October 08, 2012

Publisher Law Journal Press anticipates a late October 2012 distribution date for hardcopy supplements for Release 52 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J).
Online S2P2J will also be updated late October 2012 to include Release
52 materials. First published in 1986, S2P2J is co-authored and updated
semi-annually by Daniel W. Hindert, Joseph J. Dehner and Patrick J. Hindert. Both the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) utilize S2P2J as an educational resource for their certification programs.

Release 52 Highlights

Documenting a structured settlement is generally more complicated than the paper work involved with a lump sum settlement. Structured settlement documentation
can be further complicated depending upon the number of claimants and
annuities, whether plaintiff attorneys defer their fees, the need to
allocate damages, the degree of government benefit planning and the
growing integration of annuities and trusts into blended products.

Increasingly, therefore, the parties to a structured settlement agreement must endeavor to implement complex settlement plans,
using multiple funding devices, designed to address both the intent of
the parties and compliance and accountability requirements from the
public sector.

To assist structured settlement participants in achieving these objectives, S2P2J Release 52 features new sample structured settlement forms
with suggested alternate clauses for use as circumstances change. The
new sample forms include a model Structured Settlement Agreement, with a
Supplemental Schedule to more conveniently address funding details,
plus an optional Advisory Disclosure document specifying the
involvement, services and commission sharing (if any) of structured
settlement consultants used by the claimant, defendant and liability
insurer(s).

The Supplemental Schedule provides a useful, alternative format for specifying the funding details of the settlement, including:

The amount of up-front payments and their recipients.

The cost to purchase funding for the periodic payments.

A provision if the claimant’s attorney will receive periodic payments.

Allocations by the parties between tax-free and taxable payments.

Amount
of monthly payments and whether they will extend for the claimant’s
lifetime or for the greater of claimant’s lifetime or a set period of
time.

Designation of attorneys to be paid and at what address or to what account number.

Language used to permit or disallow later transfers of periodic payment rights.

To help explain these new structured settlement forms, the authors have added extensive related commentary discussing how to create enforceable structured settlement agreements that minimize the risk of post-closing issues.

Release 52 also features a comprehensive update of the Executive Life of New York (ELNY) liquidation plus new and/or expanded analyses for the following structured settlement industry issues and case developments: